AThe Los Angeles Times Los Angeles, California Wednesday, July 05, 1972 - Page 1
Chess Waits But The Ploys Go On: Russians Insist That Fischer Apologize Before First Match by Joe Alex Morris, Jr.
Reykjavik, Iceland—The stalled chess championship was further jeopardized Tuesday by a Russian demand that American challenger Bobby Fischer apologize before his first match with titleholder Boris Spassky.
The Russians stepped up their attacks on the way the match has been handled shortly after the 29-year-old American arrived. They demanded —and got— a second delay in the opening game, and it was not completely clear whether they would agree to play Thursday.
If not, International Chess Federation President Dr. Max Euwe warned, “I shall have to take measures” against the Russians, and he spoke of an ultimatum to get Spassky to the chessboard. Fred Cramer of the American team here indicated Fischer would not give in to the Russian demand.
“I cannot see Fischer apologizing,” he said. “He feels he's done nothing wrong.”
It was not clear whether the Russians were simply adopting new tactics to regain the psychological edge for the 35-year-old Spassky. The Americans had asked for the postponement of the first of 24 matches for the world crown last Sunday.
“I'm not clear what the situation is,” confessed Euwe. “I don't understand it myself.”
But chief arbiter Lothar Schmid said the Soviets were demanding “unspecified punishment” for Fischer for his defiance of the international rules. The Russians handed Schmid a formal complaint, which attacked both Fischer and Euwe.
“The Soviet note was all insults against us. We are both bad boys,” Euwe said.
There is a certain never-never quality about this elderly Dutchman which so far has served to defuse the tension in these preliminary struggles. Asked whether he accepts the Russian charges against him, he said: “They say I am violating all the rules. Of course I agree with them.”
Both Euwe and Schmid refused to specify what the Russian complaints were, and Euwe indicated they were vague. “They said there were certain problems, but when we asked what they were, they didn't tell us,” Euwe said.
But Yugoslav grand master Svetozar Gligoric, a friend of both Spassky and Fischer, said the Russians wanted the American to apologize for his extraordinary behavior. Fischer refused to come to Iceland until a British banker doubled the prize money Monday.
“Spassky is the titleholder,” Gligoric said. “He feels the challenger should apologize.”
Fischer arrived early Tuesday morning from New York, having appropriated a whole row of seats on an Icelandic jet for himself. He was whisked directly into a waiting Mercedes limousine surrounded by Icelandic police who kept photographers at bay.
He did not go through immigration, but went directly to a brand-new luxury bungalow which was built for the first prize winner in the state lottery next fall. he appeared shortly thereafter in slacks and tee shirt to ask his police guard about missing pieces of luggage.
Then he went to sleep as his aides met with the Russians over their outstanding differences, including the Russian demand that Fischer apologize. They did not include money, however. Euwe said the Russians appeared to accept the doubling of the prize money by a capitalist British banker, Jim Slater.
Fischer did not show up for the drawing of lots scheduled for noon to see who plays first. Spassky did. Efforts had been made to reach him at his hotel to tell him to send only a second since Fischer wasn't going to be there himself, but no one could get through to him. The switchboard operator had orders to relay no calls to his room.
Later, Spassky had a beer with his lunch, “I don't play today,” he said.
Asked whether he had asked for a two-day postponement, the Russian champion said “I still want to play. But I will decide when.”
Euwe later pronounced himself a bit more optimistic that there will be a chess match here after all. “Both are willing to play,” he said.
The question was when. Neither wants to give the other a psychological advantage at the start.
“Neither wants to beat a sick man,” said Fred Cramer of the American Chess Federation.
The Russian-American negotiations involved neither principal. Fischer was represented by lawyer Paul Marshall and Father William Lombardy, who will be his second when the match starts.
They talked with Spassky's deputies fro two and a half hours. For reasons best known to himself and upon which he flatly refused to elaborate, Marshall said the Russian complaints caused “some shock and surprise” in the Fischer camp.
The negotiations will continue today, and Marshall said they hope to resolve them then.
Lombardy, on the other hand, said the difficulties were “relatively minor” and had been blown up into major differences. As has been consistently true of the Americans here, they continued to speak with different if not contradictory voices.
Although Euwe said the show must finally start Thursday, four days late, it was obvious it could not start until the Americans and the Russians settled their problems. Beyond that, Fischer still has to approve the arrangements for the games, and this could be a major hurdle.
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